‘Human Flow’ demands empathy for the refugee experience

People who are lucky enough to be free of political and religious persecution might find it hard to appreciate the experiences of refugees from violent hotspots such as Syria and Myanmar. It’s an issue that often feels too intricate for the general public to fully process despite newspapers and cable news networks providing stats and information on migration trends. Making matters worse is the growing antagonism toward this humanitarian crisis by nationalist fear-mongers in Europe and the United States.

With his new feature documentary Human Flow, renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei bucks this trend by focusing on the elemental experiences of refugees at the ground level. His intent is not to just inform the viewer, but to create an emotional connection with the many global citizens who find themselves displaced because of war, famine, climate change and genocide. It is an immersive and often straightforward travelogue, one that lingers on faces and bodies in motion, not particularly academic but always engrossing.

Ai visits massive refugee camps in Iraq, Jordan, Gaza, Bangladesh, France, Italy and Kenya, interviewing a diverse cross-section of people who are trapped within a maze of state bureaucracy. Their conversations are short and direct, with some subjects facing away from the camera as to ensure anonymity. Intimate moments like these are complemented by drone shots scanning massive enclaves where thousands of people are forced to live in close proximity.

Human Flow, which opens Friday, Oct. 27, at Angelika Film Centers-Carmel Mountain, is an introductory salvo to an endlessly complex topic. Ai’s film isn’t stylistically dense like Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea, but it has an emotional rhythm all its own. “The world is shrinking,” says Dr. Kemal Kirişci, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Ai speeds up the recognition of this fact that directly relates to globalization, forcing the comfortable isolationist viewer to empathize with a crisis of humanity that deserves their utmost attention right now.

Nobody’s Watching: An Argentine soap opera star moves to New York City to pursue his dreams but soon finds that the challenges of being an immigrant are more than he expected. Opens Friday, Oct. 27, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Suburbicon: George Clooney directs this disturbing 1950s-set black comedy about a quiet family town that goes to hell after a home invasion sets off a series of violent events. Stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore.

Thank You for Your Service: Miles Teller plays a soldier returning home from Iraq who then struggles to integrate back into society.

The Departure: This unforgettable documentary follows Ittetsu Nemoto, a former punk-turned-Buddhist-priest in Japan, as he helps individuals contemplating suicide and questions his own mortality. Opens Friday, Oct. 27, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Tom of Finland: This biopic is about one of the most influential gay figures of the 20th century, Finnish artist Touko Valio Laaksonen, who is known best by his pseudonym “Tom of Finland.” Opens Friday, Oct. 27, at the Ken Cinema.

San Diego Arab Film Festival: Presenting feature films from Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, USA and France, this multiple weekend cultural event seeks to celebrate Arab culture through the power of cinema. The festival concludes Oct. 28 and 29, at AMC Mission Valley Cinemas. For more information visit sandiegoaff.org.

One Time Only

Scream: Wes Craven reinvented the slasher genre with this 1990s meta classic about a group of savvy victims trying to outsmart a masked killer. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

The Birds: Alfred Hitchcock invented the “when animals attack” subgenre with this avian disaster film set in the San Francisco Bay area. Screens at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26 through Saturday, Oct. 28, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Jaws: When a series of shark attacks threaten to derail tourist season in a Massachusetts island community, the local sheriff teams up with a wealthy scientist and a salty boat captain to neutralize the threat. Screens at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Broadway Pier in San Diego.

Death Laid an Egg: A woman (Ewa Aulin) plans to kill both her lover (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and his wife (Gina Lollobrigida) but conspires with each one to get the job done. Screens at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, and 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Spirited Away: After her family moves to the suburbs, a young girl discovers a world of gods and monsters in Hayao Miyazaki’s animated masterpiece. Screens at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, at Arclight La Jolla Cinemas.

Most Beautiful Island: An undocumented immigrant struggling to begin a new life in New York City is offered a great opportunity, but as day turns to night, she discovers she’s been lured into a dangerous game. Screens at 5:10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, at Digital Gym San Diego.

The Shining: Jack Nicholson plays a man who takes his family to an isolated hotel in the mountains for a winter of quiet terror. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.